No Barriers to Fun!

We met our friend Giddeon at the AbleGamers Accessibility Arcade in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When he first sat down with the AbleGamers crew, Giddeon didn't want to play any games. He told us that with his disability gaming was difficult. Giddeon has a rare disease that caused the growth of his arms .. Read More
A Window to the World

Shepherd University invited the AbleGamers Foundation to come on campus and do one of our Accessibility Arcades for the students and local disabled community. The event was a roaring success with hundreds of children and adults coming out to see the technology and in some cases experience gaming the first time. Read More

About the AbleGamers Foundation

Since 2004, the AbleGamers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, has served more than 56 million members of the disabled community by advocating greater access in video games. Today, AbleGamers is a leader in the development of equipment, programs and services to those living with disabilities, hardships, and quality-of-life issues that are a result of chronic illness or trauma. It is our goal to ensure that all people, regardless of their disability, can use gaming as a tool to have enriched social experiences with friends, family, and the world at large.

End of Day One - Video DISASTER

Written by Michelle Hinn

Published on 23 March 2009

The day started off with coffee. Lots and lots of coffee because we had very little sleep after a brilliant night of discussing new Facebook and Twitter options that we can’t talk about because we made each other sign a non-disclosure agreement. MMM. Peets coffee. And it’s all you can drink in the speaker’s lounge. Until they cut us off.

But never mind that! Mark and I went to (code: Michelle dragged Mark to) the IGDA SIG Chairs meeting where we learned about what happens when you take 25 strange people (and some strangers), put them in a room, make them talk about budget stuff, and watch as they all get real…bored. At least lunch was provided…provided we walk 6 miles to go get it. Seriously, though, tomorrow’s diversity committee meeting should be more our style!!

After that we had a TOP SECRET meeting with Game Informer Magazine’s Meagan VanBurkleo. [FBI Censor] talked [FBI Censor] and then [FBI Censor]! So [FBI Censor] things are [FBI Censor] rabbit.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSQOWzTCDNc]

And unexpected surprise! The GDC bookstore had copies of “Beyond Game Design” edited by Chris Bateman and, yes, there’s an over 30 page chapter on Game Accessibility in it by Michelle. And guess what? They printed her shout outs to Mark Barlet and Stephanie Walker in the acknowledgements! And then the guys at checkout learned all about the brain tumor [really] that I wrote the chapter with. Does it make any sense? Well, Chris is a VERY patient and awesome editor so luckily most of my weird word swaps were removed. Escalator.

Oh! Not to forget…So Mark and I were at a brainstorming session amongst the two of us -- where we scored even more party invites for this week thanks to reuniting with old friends that stopped by to give us their opinion on Michelle’s Flip Camera -- on the bean bag chairs after way too much coffee where we talked about how to bring GDC to our readers. After months of attempts to bring in filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, our calls remained unreturned. Not being filmmakers ourselves, nor having any kind of budget, we wisely decided on embarking on a series of independent films (not to mention that Michelle is enthused about Indie Filmmaking after SXSW last week and is currently delusional and thinks she is an Indie Filmmaker). Obviously, the videos exceeded our expectations and once we convinced the local police that we did not need an escort to local psychiatric services, everything was in place! Enjoy!

Now we have an hour before dinner at Buca Di Beppo (www.bucadibeppo.com), which is a damn good restaurant and after all that coffee and little food…I’m hungry. But it’s a free IGDA meal so we are there!! What to do now…

Stay tuned.

Add comment

Comments

0 #3 COMMENT_TITLE_R E End of Day One - Video DISASTER — flowbug 2009-03-24 03:09

Wow. It kind of makes me feel like I'm a part of the business already. I can't wait till I get to hop up and down escalators at GDC too. You know, there used to be an old arcade game called "Elevator Action". It'd be awesome to see a parody for GDC called "Escalator Inaction".

0 #2 COMMENT_TITLE_R E End of Day One - Video DISASTER — Camilya 2009-03-23 23:51

Loved it! I laughed. I cried. A triumph of the human spirit! Two thumbs way up! Plus, you said my name and put me in a book so how could I not love it! hehe

Seriously, Im just glad neither of you fell down the escalator. Although that could have given your video some more action and probably some drama! hehe :-)